University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center is the flagship academic medical center at the core of UH’s 18 hospital health system that serves patients across northern Ohio. Through faculty appointments at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and through research conducted with support from UH’s Harrington Discovery Institute, physician-scientists at UH Cleveland Medical Center are advancing medical care through education and innovative research that brings the latest treatment options to patients regionally and around the world.

Funding

Startup Funding: American Academy of Pediatrics Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) planning and implementation grants

MomsFirst

Program director Lisa Matthews and administrative officer Valeria Davis collaborated and organized and made the program possible. The MomsFirst case managers and community health workers did all the hard work of sharing curriculum and collecting outcomes. Many thanks for letting us join with you.

Certified Lactation Consultants

Certified lactation consultants (CLCs) who served the mothers:

Portia Gadson (kudos to Portia for her ability to engage and educate)

Gloria Agosto (organized referrals and startup) and Danielle Knafler (held the show together)

Father Support

Steve Killpack, President of Community Endeavors, superbly organized all aspects of the father program; Reverend Dr. Brian Moore, President of Passages, enthusiastically facilitated all of the men’s groups and Brandon Goins of Passages ably served as the resource specialist.

WIC

Crystal Herzfeld, breastfeeding coordinator, was the “go-to” person for resources, connections with Breastfeeding Peer Helpers and WIC policy. Susan Conover provided full administrative support and Maureen DeMarino International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) served as resource and back up for our CLCs.

Breastfeeding Information

Cathy Dickinson, RN IBCLC, supported all of the content for the curriculum, facilitated focus groups, taught the Community Health Workers, supported us and was the backbone of program development.

Donations and Support

Leading Lady Inc. (collaborators, marketing manager Erica Sanicky and specialist Marytherese Stevenson) donated almost 1,000 free nursing bras as well as dozens of reduced-price fitted nursing bras through a fit and home deliver program for mothers who are breastfeeding exclusively at 2-3 weeks and again at 6-8 weeks postpartum.